I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was good. I got to spend it with my family, and there was so much food. So much. I haven’t had the courage to step on a scale yet to see what type of damage has been done.
So, it’s been a while since I’ve shared a recipe with you, and I thought this cookie recipe would be perfect. These cookies are super soft, almost cake-like, and they melt in your mouth. I found this recipe on How to Nest for Less through Pinterest and first made them last year for Christmas get-togethers. Everyone loved them, so I made them again for Thanksgiving this year. It’s currently one of Alex’s favorite cookies, and they are good any time of the year, not just holidays.
I really liked that this recipe has just a few ingredients. I did tweak the original recipe some. I increased the vanilla extract for a little extra something, and I creamed just the butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes before adding the egg and vanilla.
I do not recommend mixing the batter with a hand-held mixer. I did this the first few times I made this cookie because I was too lazy to drag my Kitchen Aid mixer out. The batter is so thick, the dough works its way up the beaters and onto the mixer you’re holding. That equals a mess, and the dough isn’t getting mixed properly. I made this batch with my Kitchen Aid mixer using the paddle attachment, and it went a lot smoother.
I chilled the dough for about an hour before scooping it onto a cookie sheet. You can get by with chilling for just 30-40 minutes though; I was busy doing stuff around the house, and chilling it for a longer time didn’t make it harder to scoop. Chilling the dough first makes it a lot less stickier when trying to scoop out cookies, so don’t skip this part. I covered the top of the mixing bowl with a damp paper towel to keep the dough from drying out in the fridge.
I scooped 12 cookies out on a half-sheet pan and used a Silpat mat. You could probably get away with 15 on a pan this size since the dough doesn’t spread out a lot.
These cookies have a very cake-like texture and are delicious! You want to cook them about 10 minutes, just until the bottoms start to turn this nice golden brown.
I put a dozen of these cookies into a Christmas tin to give to one of our neighbors this year.
If you make these, be sure to comment and let me know what you think of them.
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 yellow cake mix
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- Using a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese until blended and smooth. I mixed for one minute on the 2nd speed of my Kitchen Aid, scraped the sides down, and then mixed 1 minute on the 3rd speed setting and scraped the sides down again.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract, and mix until blended. I had to stop the mixer and scrape the sides down and the beater once during this.
- Once the mixture is smooth, add the cake mix, and blend until smooth.
- Chill dough for 30-45 minutes to make the dough easier to work with.
- Scoop a spoonful of cookie dough, roll into a ball, and then roll the ball in the powdered sugar.
- Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes until the bottoms are slightly golden brown.